Like most of the finer things in life, videogames are best shared with friends. There's plenty of fun to be had teaming up with mates for cooperative shenanigans, but at first glance, The Cursed Crusade from French studio Kylotonn Entertainment appears to be an incredibly serious proposition. After the Pope launches a third Crusade, the heroic yet haunted Denz De Bayle must team up with an untrustworthy thief to avenge his dead father and reclaim his family honour, surrounded by carnage and bloodshed in a foreign land. You'd be forgiven for expecting it to be a depressing historical documentary draped in 'war is hell' metaphors.

At its heart, however, The Cursed Crusade is an action-packed buddy movie. Creative Director Yann Tambellini compares the dynamic between lead characters Denz and Esteban to Bad Boys II: two very different heroes who constantly give each other a hard time whilst always looking out for their partners' best interests. From what I experienced in the demo levels, some genuinely funny dialogue rubs shoulders with full-on racial stereotyping (no, really, Kylotonn aren't pulling any clichéd punches when it comes to the outrageously Spanish mercenary), and it will be interesting to whether this overused gambit pays off.

In gameplay terms, though, this cooperative focus essentially seems to boil down to two players - or one player and a surprisingly capable AI - being required to open the same door, push the same battering ram, boost each other up ledges and engage in a huge amount of freestyle tag-team murder. Forget open-world exploration, because I'll be surprised if there's anyone left in Constantinople once the last head hits the floor. Or the well. Or the sizzling brazier.